Sound the Bugle
by Goddess Virgo of the Fae
Summary: Everyone's gone, her friends, her family . . . And now all she wants to do is give up. It's just like the song says, 'If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow.'


Sound the Bugle  
  
Written by: Goddess Virgo of the Fae  
  
Summary: Everyone's gone, her friends, her family . . . And now all she wants to do is give up. It's just like the song says, 'If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow.'  
  
Rating: PG (implied character death)  
  
Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me (that's all J. K. Rowling), nor does 'Sound the Bugle' (Bryan Adams).  
  
Author's Note: If my memory hasn't failed me completely, I seem to remember reading a fanfiction with this song in it quite some time ago. I don't remember who was in it and I don't remember who the main character was, so I just want everyone to know that I, in no way, copied someone else's work.  
  
Anyway, I hope you like it.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sound the bugle now  
  
Play it just for me  
  
As the seasons change  
  
Remember how I used to be  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Hermione Granger sighed as she lay in the clear silent night air. It was as if everything had stopped to hear the slight shake in her breathing. The sounds of the night would soon begin again though, playing their song and giving a tune to her wordless mourning. She didn't want to mourn though, she didn't want to do anything, she didn't even want to be.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Now I can't go on  
  
I can't even start  
  
I got nothing left  
  
Just an empty heart  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The war against Voldemort was finally over and when the announcement came, many celebrated. Hermione, however, was not among this crowd. She'd watched the toasts and the dancing, but had ended up having to leave for fear that she would lose her last shred of sanity.  
  
People were dead. Her friends, her family, were dead, and those fools had the audacity to have fun. How dare they!  
  
Of course the angry feeling had left some time ago, leaving nothing in its place.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
I'm a solider  
  
Wounded so I must give up the fight  
  
There's nothing more for me  
  
Lead me away . . . or leave me lying here  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
She'd fought beside her closest and most trusted friends, some old and some new. All of them had her trust, which was a dangerous thing to give in the time of war. She'd watched as the ones she loved, her brothers and sisters, fell.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Sound the bugle now  
  
Tell them I don't care  
  
There's not a road I know  
  
That leads to anywhere  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
After the battle, people told her how sorry they were; how they knew that it would be hard, but she had to pull through. They didn't seem to get the fact that she could care less about what they thought. They didn't know. Without her friends and family with her, she had no reason for being.  
  
'A soul who wanders aimlessly will sometimes get lost.' Her mother had told her that once before she'd died. She'd been right, but 'lost' just didn't seem to cover it.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Without a light I--  
  
Fear that I will stumble in the dark  
  
Lay right down, decide  
  
Not to go on  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
So she'd come into the night and lay down beside the Hogwarts Lake, finally deciding that she was tired of being lost. If she didn't even have a way, a purpose, then why was she still there? Rolling onto her side, she watched the stillness of the lake, wondering if it'd take her to the bottom should she jump in.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Then from on high Somewhere in the distance There's a voice that calls Remember who you are  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
As she closed her eyes, willing her heart to stop, she heard something, a name perhaps. But that wasn't possible, who knew her name now that nearly no one was left; why would anyone wish to speak with her? 'No one knows me, hell I don't even know me.' And for some strange reason, she couldn't bring herself to care.  
  
A strong voice from above brought her out of here reverie. "Miss Granger." She rolled onto her back and stared up at him, wondering why in the world he was there with her.  
  
"Professor Snape." She acknowledged and then closed her eyes.  
  
"Miss Granger, it is not safe for a young woman to sleep outside." He told her, still staring down at her blank face  
  
"Professor, for quite some time, it was not safe for anyone to sleep in their own beds. I think I won't have any problems here in the near future." She replied, not opening her eyes, not raising her voice.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
If you lose yourself  
  
Your courage soon will follow  
  
So be strong tonight  
  
Remember who you are  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Do you not even care about what happens to you?" He asked quietly. When she opened her eyes, the look there told him everything he needed to know. "You don't. You are the brightest witch to grace Hogwarts since Rowena Ravenclaw and you don't even care. Are you a bloody Gryffindor or not?" He asked, crouching down at her side. She couldn't even bring herself to be surprised at the compliment in his statement.  
  
"We see where being a Gryffindor got me."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Yeah, you're a soldier now  
  
Fighting in a battle  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"You're alive," He hissed. "You should be thankful for that much."  
  
"Should I? Everyone I've ever loved is gone and you think that I should be thankful that I'm alive and alone?" She asked him, losing a little of her composure.  
  
"Miss Granger I kn--" Snape started, only to be cut off by his eighteen year old student.  
  
"Don't you dare say you know, because you don't, you can't!" Hermione yelled, her voice catching because of the lump in her throat.  
  
"You foolish girl!" Her professor pulled her into a sitting position and kept an almost painful hold on her upper arms. "Of course I know! You act as though you are the only one who lost people in this war! But it was a risk that we all took!" Tears began gathering in her eyes and as he watched her, Snape did the most unexpected of things, he pulled her to him and hugged her.  
  
Immediately she began sobbing into his shoulder. "I miss them." She whispered brokenly. "I miss them. I miss them." She whispered over and over against the black fabric of his robes.  
  
"I know." Her professor responded. "But you can't let yourself get lost in your grieving for them. You are the most brilliant woman I've ever met, please don't lose that."  
  
"I've lost so much, I don't know if I can hold onto anything anymore." Hermione told him truthfully. "Was the war really worth everything that happened?"  
  
"Yes." There was no hesitation in his voice. "Miss Granger, Hermione, we have fought for our freedom and we have won. Trust me my dear, it was worth it."  
  
"Stay with me for tonight Professor?" She asked as she listened to his heartbeat and stared out at the lake where the giant squid had made the surface ripple.  
  
"As you wish."  
  
And he did.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Author's Note: Okay, how did you like it? I stayed up one night because I couldn't force myself to go to sleep and had this song on repeat. I just felt like this piece had to be done. This was my first songfic, so please be gentle.  
  
Tell me if you like it.  
  
Thanks for reading,  
  
Goddess  
  
P.S.- I know that Snape's OOC, but for this story, he kind of had to be. 


End file.
